Yayoi Kusama
Who
Japanese artist of polka dots, pumpkins and mirrored infinity rooms. Worked in New York from 1958 to 1973 alongside the Minimalists and Pop artists, returned to Tokyo, and from 1977 lived by choice in a psychiatric hospital, walking to her studio every day. She died in Tokyo on 14 August 2026, aged 97.
Why they matter
The Infinity Mirror Rooms are the most queued-for artworks of the twenty-first century, and the dot-covered pumpkin became the most recognisable sculpture of her lifetime. She was making soft sculpture and mirror installations before the men usually credited with them.
What to buy
In copyright until the end of 2096. Prints: licensed posters and editions come through museum shops (Tate, and the museums that host her shows) and her own museum in Tokyo. Marketplace "Kusama" posters are mostly unlicensed. Books: the Tate and Phaidon monographs. Originals: her signed editions (prints, pumpkin multiples) are five figures and up and sell through galleries and the major houses only; anything cheaper is not what it claims.
Notes
The Yayoi Kusama Museum opened in Tokyo in 2017. Not public domain: no free image archive.
Key works
- Infinity Mirror Room - Phalli's Field (1965)
- Pumpkin (1994) - Benesse Art Site, Naoshima
- Infinity Nets (1958 onward) - ongoing series of paintings
- The Obliteration Room (2002 onward) - participatory installation
In museum collections
- Air Mail Stickers (1962)
Whitney Museum ↗ - Dots Infinity NOWH (2004)
MFA Boston ↗ - Fortress of Stars (1988)
National Gallery of Art ↗ - Infinity Nets Yellow (1960)
National Gallery of Art ↗ - No. C.A.9
LACMA ↗ - No. F (1959)
MoMA ↗ - No. IZ (1960)
Art Institute of Chicago ↗ - Untitled (1967)
LACMA ↗ ยท Minneapolis Institute of Art ↗
See the work
Prints
Books
See also
Browse all 2,101 artists · Open in the directory · Where the work hangs: 24 museums on a map